The present invention relates to coating systems for applying coatings to workpieces, and more particularly to coating systems that include a manipulator having planetary gearing.
In order to apply coatings to workpieces with desirable coating distribution, manipulators can be used to move the workpiece within a stream, plume or cloud of coating material. Such manipulators allow more even coating thickness distribution on various surfaces of workpieces, especially workpieces with relatively complex geometries and hard-to-reach (e.g., non-line-of-sight) areas. Gear-driven manipulators exist, including those with gear-driven arms that rotate and move upward and downward at up to +/−45° in a “butterfly” movement to provide one complete axis of rotation and one partial axis of rotation.
Gas turbine engines include numerous components with a variety of coatings. For example, gas turbine engines often include vane segments, such as “doublets” with a pair of airfoils extending between inner and outer platforms. Such doublets can include thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) made of ceramics or other materials, as well as environmental or other coatings. The configuration of typical vane doublets with highly contoured end walls can make coating uniform coating distribution difficult, including in the throat area between the airfoils.
Therefore, it is desired to provide an alternative coating system having an alternative workpiece manipulator.